Thursday, March 29, 2007

Skype 3 - Free Conference Calling for 10

I finally upgraded to Skype version 3 and discovered that they have now expanded the number of participants you can have in a free conference call to 10 instead of the previous 5. 10 is a great number as most committees that I work on are between 5 and 10. I have Skype installed on all of my computers and my Pocket PC. It uses webcams with ease and has many of the features that other systems lack. For example in my MSN Messenger, as soon as I bring in a third person into a conversation, we lose audio. With Skype you can add 9 to your conversation and keep the audio connection. Skype does support text chat, monitors which of your contacts are online and makes it very easy to find people.

When you install it on your Pocket PC, it turns it into a Skype Phone, for free. All you need is a WiFi connection and you can make calls without a subscription, if you call other Skype users. For a low fee you can call nonSkype users on their telephones.

Go to http://www.skype.com and download it.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Teacher Tube Video Sharing

I was sent this link today and this site appears to be YouTube for teachers. The concept is the same but this site is only for sharing educational video clips. It is free and well designed, okay, it pretty much mirrors YouTube. I like the idea of an educational YouTube so you should check it out. It is still very new, started in January, but there are many videos on it already.

Features that I like are the flag for reporting inappropriate material and you can embed the video clips into your only courseware. It is all Flash based, like the others, so it is easy to share links to your students. I also like the guidance and position about posting copyright materials. This will help us feel confident that in using the clips from the site, we are not violating anyone's copyright.

So, this site will be as good as we make it by posting our video clips to it. Check it out at http://www.teachertube.com/

Saturday, March 17, 2007

All Things Web 2.0

Here is a very useful directory site of many Web 2.0 applications. These apps are typically free and designed for collaborating with others. The apps are organized in to categories including one for Elearning 2.0 where several very interesting learning apps are listed.

I also found the wide range of very innovation apps in the lists that I have never thought of before. There are sites to help you improve your health and network with others doing the same. Apps for networking with others is all kinds of ways.

According to lists, the most popular app is blurf a trivia question game.

What is also nice of this site is the you can read reviews and ratings on the Web 2.0 apps/sites so it can help you make sense of the new Web 2.0.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Changing Learning Systems - Elliot Masie

Elliot Masie has released a free online presentation in Flash about the issues and challenges of changing your learning systems. Click here to access it. Are you a WebCT or Blackboard user and wonder about changing LMS over to something else, then check out this presentation.

"Changing Learning Systems: Forces & Disruptions"

Changing Learners
Changing Content Models
Changing Business Processes
Changing Learning & IT Models
Changing Marketplace

This content is based on our research with our 240 member Learning
CONSORTIUM. We are tracking a rate of more than 30% of corporations in
LMS and LCMS "reconsideration". This on-line module includes my audio
comments on the key business drivers that are impacting LMS selection and
change.

Rod

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Google Notebook

We ran the 25 Google Learning Tools workshop a week ago for the conference in Calgary and one of the most popular tools was Google Notebook. Then I realized that I had reviewed that tool with you yet. Notebook is new, free and very useful. Go to http://www.google.com/notebook/ and sign up with your Gmail or Google account. It works best if you download and install the plugin. BTW, you can sign up for gmail account without an invitation now if you go to http://www.gmail.com

What can you do with Notebook?
- Surf the web and grab quotes, notes and images from the web pages you find useful and they automatically copy to one of your Google Notebooks.
- After open up your notebook and edit, organize, and insert your notations.
- After you have the notebook set the way you want, you can share it with your students or peers but simply making it public and sharing the URL, all with seeing one single HTML code.

So, if you are an instructor, you could put together some pretty nice looking presentations with images and resources from the web very quickly and post them into your online course.
Or, if you are a student working on a class presentation you can use Notebook to compile your notes and findings and present to the class. You can even collaborate on developing the presentation.

Rod

Canadian E-Learning 2007 conference

The 5th Annual Canadian E-Learning Conference will take place in Edmonton at the University of Alberta on June 18 to 22, 2007. This is the former Canadian WebCT conference that UofA have hosted over the last 4 years. The title is explore 2007.

This conference will be very different because of the take over of WebCT by Blackboard and the organizers are working hard for make this a conference for all WebCT and Blackboard users in Canada, as well as other platforms.

The call for proposals is out right now and the due date is March 20th. If you are accepted your registration fee is cut to $100.

Plan to attend. I have submitted proposals to offer the 25 Google Learning Tools workshop that Jeff Hamilton and I have developed. This workshop has attracted a lot of interest when we have offered it. I am also working on a concurrent presentation about the top 10 free tools you can use to enhance your WebCT or Blackboard courses.

It will be a great conference. See you there. Click here for details.

Rod